Apparatus for operating dredge or excavator buckets



2 Sheets-Sheet 1-.

(No Model.)

P. B. BARROWS.

APPARATUS FOR OPERATING DREDGE oP-PxcAvAToP BUGKETS.

Patented June 17, 1&901.

INVENTOR- 1 A? $00M ATTORNEYS.

WITNESSES:

(No Model.) 2 SheetsSheet; 2. F. B. BARROWS.

APPARATUS FOR OPERATING DREDGE OR EXOAVATOR BUGKETS. No. 430,561.

Patented June 17, 1890.

ATTORNEYS.

mums mans 5a., macro-mum, WASN UNITED STATES ATENT OFFICE.

FREDERICK l3. BARROWS, OF DULUTH, MINNESOTA, ASSIGNOR TO HIMSELF ANDWVILLIAM M. SPALDING, OF SAME PLACE.

APPARATUS FOR OPERATHNG DREDGE OR EXCAVATOR BUCKETS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 430,561, dated June 17,1890.

Application filed August '7, 1889.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FREDERICK B. BAR- ROWs, of Duluth, in the county ofSt. Louis and State of Minnesota, have invented a new and ImprovedApparatus for Operatil'lg Dredge and Excavator Buckets, of which thefollowing is a full, clear, and exact description.

The invention relates to hoisting-machines; and its object is to providea new and improved hoisting-bucket specially designed to conveniently,rapidly, and automatically transfer coal, grain, and other similararticles from one place to another.

The invention consists of a carriage provided with a tail-carriage, abucket held on a rope supported from the said carriage, and abucket-boom provided with an adjustable fulcrum.

The invention also consists of certain parts and details andcombinations of the same, as will be hereinafter fully described, andthen pointed out in the claims.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part ofthis specification, in which similar letters of reference indicatecorresponding parts in all the figures.

Figure 1 is a side elevation of the improvement with parts broken out.Fig. 2 is an enlarged transverse section of the same on the line 00 a:of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is an enlarged side elevation of the bucket. Fig. 4.is an under side view of the same. Fig. 5 is an enlarged side elevationof part of the bucket-boom. Fig. 6 is an enlarged sectional sideelevation of the lower end of the bucket on the line y y of Fig. 4, andFig. 7 is a similar view of the same on the line ,2 z of Fig. 4. Fig. 8is a side elevation of part of the main carriage.

The improved hoisting-bucket G is provided with an inclined track B, onwhich is mounted to travel the main carriage O, on which is secured oneend of a rope D, passing under a sheave E, supporting a U-shaped rod F,preferably connected at its ends with the sides of the bucket G. Therope D, after passing under the sheave E, extends upward and over apulley II, mounted to turn in suitable hearings on the carriage O. The

rope D then extends above the track 13 and in line with the same tosuitable hoisting- Serial No. 319,976. (No model.)

machinery for winding up or unwinding said rope.

On the outside of the bucket G is secured the boom I, provided on itsunder side with a rack I, meshing into the gear-wheel J, secured on ashaft J, mounted to turn in suitable bearings formed on the brackets K,extending downward from the tail-carriage K, rigidly connected by areach K with the main carriage O. The tail-carriage K travels in therear of the main carriage O on the track B.

In order to hold the boom I in mesh with with the gear-wheel J, twoplates J 2 are held loosely on the shaft J, said plates extending on thesides of the boom 1 and held in place on the shaft by collars J securedby setscrews or other means on the said shaft J. The upper ends of theplates J 2 are connected with each other by rollers J traveling on thetops of the boom J, so that the boom is free to pass between the twoplates J but at the same time is always held in mesh by its rack I withthe gear-wheel J. As the plates J are fulcrumed loosely on the shaft J,the boom I is free to swing in any desired direction withoutbeingdisconnected from the gearwheel J.

On the reach K is held to slide in a suit able bearing K a rod L,provided near the said bearing K with a lug L. The other end of the rodL is rigidly connected with a lever N, operating the shaft 0, mounted toturn in suitable bearings in the brackets K. On the shaft O is fasteneda crank-arm O, to which is secured one end of a brake-band P, passingaround a brake-pulley P, secured on one end of the shaft J. The otherend of the brakeband P is secured on the bracket K, as is plainlyillustrated in Fig. 1.

The lug L of the rod L is operated on by the lower end of a lever Q,pivoted on a bumper R, supported by suitable brackets R on the track B.The upper end of the lever Q is connected with a rope Q under thecontrol of the operator. The bumper R is provided in its top with anotch R adapted to be engaged by the hook S of a lever S, fulcrumed nearthe front end of the main carriage O. The lever S is provided with adownwardly-extending arm S adapted to be engaged by the sheave E, ashereinafter more fully described.

On the main carriage C is held to slide a rod S pivotally connectedwit-h one end of an arm S secured on the shaft S extending transverselyand mounted to turn in suitable hearings on the main carriage O. Theother end of the arm S is connected with a spring S, held on the maincarriage. In the middle of the shaft S is secured a hook S adapted toengage a hook E, formed on the sheave E, and serving to support thebucket G while the latter travels forward or backward with the maincarriage C. On the rod S is a collar S serving to limit the rearward'motion of the rod S caused by the spring S".

The bucket G is provided with a hinged bottom G, on the under side ofwhich is held in a suitable bearing G a sliding bolt T, adapted toengage a bolt-plate G secured to the outside of the bucket G. The bolt Tis pivotally connected with an arm T, pivoted on the under side of thebottom G, and is held in an outermost position by a spring T (Plainlyshown in Fig. 4.) The free end of the pivoted arm T is pivotallyconnected with a rod T held to slide in a bearing G fastened on theunder side of the bottom G. The rod T projects slightly beyond thehinged end of the bucket-bottom G, and is pivotally' connected with onearm of a bell-crank lever U, fulcrumed on the bucket G, and pivotallyconnected at its other end by a link U with a bell-crank lever Ufulcrumed on one side of the boom I. The other arm of the bellcranklever U is pivotally connected by a link U with an arm U secured on ashaft U extending transversely and mounted to turn in suitable bearingson the under side of the boom 1. A spring U is fastened by one end onone side of the boom I, and is connected at its other end with thelink Uso as to hold the latter in a normal position-that is, holding thesliding bolt T looked, as shown in Fig. 6. On one end of the shaft U issecured an armU adapted to be engaged by a fixed lug at the end of thetrack B. When the bucket G is moving in the direction of the arrow 0. tothe end of the track B, the arm U strikes against the fixed lug, so thatthe said arm is moved in the direction of the arrow 1), whereby thesliding bolt T is withdrawn from the boltplate G and'the bottom G isfree to open that is, to swing downward to permit the contents of thebucket G to drop out of the same. After the bucket has been emptied thebottom G is again closed by the device now to be described. On the underside of the bottom G, near its hinged end, is secured an arm V,pivotally connected at its outer end with a link V, pivoted on a secondlink V fastened on a short shaft V mounted to turn in suitable bearingson the top of the boom I, as is plainly shown in Fig. 3. Near thefulcrum end of the link V is pivotally connected a rod V held to slidein a bearing V secured to the rear side of the boom I. A spring V iscoiled on the said rod V, and rests with one end against said bearing Vand its other end presses against the front edge of the link V The linksV and V are prevented from closing too far inward toward the bucket G bya lug V secured on the said bucket opposite the joint of the two links Vand V When the bottom G is swung open, as previously described, thelinks V and V assume the position shown in dotted lines in Fig. 3, thespring V being then compressed. The moment the contents of the bucket Ghave passed out of the .same the spring V forces the links V and V totheir former position, so that the bottom G is again closed. Then, assoon as the arm U is released from the fixed point by the bucket Gmoving in the inverse direction of the arrow a, the springs U and Tcause the sliding bolt T to again engage the bolt-plate G so that thebottom G is again locked to the bucket G.

The operation is as follows: As shown in Fig. 1, the bucket G is on itsreturn movement in the inverse direction of the arrow (1,. As soon asthe main carriage C strikes against the bumper R the return motionceases and the hook of the spring-pressed lever S engages the notch R inthe top of the bumper B. At the same time the rod S moving against thebumper R, with the carriage, is pressed forward against the tension ofthe spring 8, so that the hook S swings rearwardly and disengages thehook E of the sheave E. As the carriage C is locked in place on thebumper R by lever S, the hook S remainsin this position untilthe lever Sis disengaged, as hereinafter described. The operator now causes therope D to unwind, so that the sheave E is lowered, the bucket G swingingrearward and downward in the direction of the arrow 0, the fulcrum beingthe contacting tooth of the rack I with the gear-wheel J. The shaft J isprevented from turning by the operator pulling on the rope Q, so thatthe lever Q presses against the lug L of the rod L,wherelIO by thelatter presses the band P against the brake-pulley P, so as to preventthe shaft J from turning. The boom I thus swings as a pendulum on theperiphery of the gearwheel J, and is held in contact with the saidperiphery by the plates J 2 and the rollers J When the boom 1 hasassumed an upright position, as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 1, theoperator releases his pull on the rope Q, so that the shaft J is free toturn, and at the same time the rope D is permitted to unwind stillfarther, whereby the bucket G, with the boom I, passes downward untilthe bucket swung upward and is disengaged by its hook S from the bumperR. The rod S is now moved rearward by the action of the spring S, sothat the hook S engages the hook E of the sheave E, and thereby supportsthe bucket G on the traveling motion of the carriage C. The carriage O,as well as the tail-carriage K, after being unlocked by lever S, asabove described, is free to be pulled forward by further winding up ofthe rope D. This causes a forward motion of the carriage C, thetailcarriage K, and all of the devices suspended from the same, so thatthe bucket G moves forward in the direction of the arrow a to the pointwhere the bucket G is to be unlocked. When the carriage C, with thebucket G, arrives at the point of unlocking, the arm U strikes againstthe fixed point previously mentioned, the bucket G is emptied, thebottom G is again locked, and the carriage is returned, as previouslydescribed.

Having thus fully described my invention, I claim as new and desire tosecure Letters Patent 1. The combination, with a carriage provided witha tail-carriage, of a bucket held on a rope supported from the saidcarriage and a bucket-boom mounted on an adj ustable fulcrum supportedon the said tail-carriage, substantially as shown and described.

2. The combination, with a carriage provided with a tail-carriage, of arope supported on one end of the said carriage and connected with adrum, a sheave held on the said rope, a bucket supported from the saidsheave, and a bucket-boom fastened on the said bucket and held to slidein a suitable bearing secured on the said tail-carriage, said bearingalsoforming a pivotfor the said boom, substantially as shown anddescribed.

3. The combination, with a carriage pro vided with a tail-carriage, of arope supported on one end of the said carriage and connected with adrum, a sheave held on the said rope, a bucket supported from the saidsheave, a bucket-boom fastened on the said bucket and held to slide in asuitable bearing secured on the said tail-carriage, said bearing alsoforminga pivot for the said boom, and a lever held on the said carriageand adapted to lock the latter in place,said lever being unlocked by thesaid sheave, substantially as shown and described.

l. In a hoisting-bucket, the combination, with a bucket provided withahinged bottom and locking devices for the same, of a spring mechanismforclosing the bottom automatically after theload is dumped, saidmechanism consisting of links V V jointed to a-fixed fulcrum at theupper end, to an offset from the hinged bottom at the lower end, and toeach other in the middle, a spring for throwing these links towardalignment, and a stop for preventing them from passing into exactalignment, substantially as shown and described.

5. The combination, with a carriage and a tail-carriage connected withthe said carriage, of a bucket suspended from the said main carriage, aboom provided with a rack and extending from the said bucket, agear-wheel in mesh with the said rack, a shaft carrying the saidgear-wheel and mounted in bearings on the said tail-carriage, sideplates fulcrumed loosely on the said shaft, androllers connecting thesaid side plates with each other and resting on top of the said boom,substantially as shown and described.

6. The combination, with a carriage anda tail-carriage eonn ected withthe said carriage, of a bucket suspended from the said main carriage, aboom provided with a rack and extending from the said bucket, agear-wheel in mesh with the said rack, a shaft carrying the saidgear-wheel and mounted in bearings on the said tailcarriage, side platesfulcrumed loosely on the said shaft, rollers connecting the said sideplates with each other and resting on top of-the said boom, abrake-pulley held on the said shaft, and a brake-band adapted to engagethe said brake-pulley, substantially as shown and described.

7 The combination, with a carriage and a tail-carriage connected withthe said carriage, of a bucket suspended from the said main carriage, aboom provided with a rack and extending from the said bucket, agear-wheel in mesh with the said rack, a shaft carrying the saidgear-wheel and mounted in bearings on the said tail-carri age, sideplates fulcrumed loosely on the said shaft, rollers connecting the saidside plates with each other and resting on top of the said boom, abrake-pulley held on the said shaft, a brake-band adapted to engage thesaid brake-pulley, and mechanism, substantially as described, foroperating the said brake-band, as set forth.

8. The combination, with a carriage and a tail-carriage connected withthe said carriage, of a bucket suspended from the main carriage, a boomprovided with a rack and extended from the said bucket, a gear'wheel inmesh with the said rack, a shaft carrying the said gear-wheel andmounted in bearings on the said tail-carriage, side plates fulcrumedloosely on the said shaft, rollers connecting the said plates with eachother and resting on top of the said boom, a brake-pulley held on thesaid shaft, a brake-band adapted to engage the said brake-pulley, alever for operatin g said brake'band and held on the said tail-carriage,a rod connected with the said lever and mounted to slide on top of thesaid tail-carriage, and also provided with a lug, and a second leverunder the control of the operator and adapted to engage the lug of thesaid rod, substantially as shown and de scribed.

FREDERICK B. BARROWS. W'itncsses:

N. A. GEARHART, W. L. JACKSON.

